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LATEST NEWS FROM THE AIRLINES

Ryanair introduces a new level of service
POP airline will dedicate over half its profits to charity
BA introduce new direct flights and routes

With so many of us flying everywhere these days, interest in changes in the aviation industry and always of interest.

So Laterlife thought it would find out what is happening at the moment…

Ryanair hasn’t always had the best reputation…especially when you see stories about its airports miles away from the destination towns and the young man who changed his name by deed poll and bought a new passport because it was cheaper than paying to change his name on his Ryanair boarding pass!

But it isn’t all bad news…as passenger numbers clearly demonstrate. The airline now has more than 1,800 daily flights from 84 bases covering 33 different countries, not a bad legacy for a brash Irish whiz kid.

But like many other budget airlines before it, Ryanair has begun to realise that the traditional rush for seats and additional payments for pretty well everything else is not ideal and not what everyone wants. Many passengers, especially our age group, are willing to pay just a little more for easier travel. Competition has increased as well, with traditional airlines such as British Airways now offering extremely competitive flights which can include a number of extras unavailable to traditional Ryan Air passengers.

So it is interesting to see that Ryanair has now announced it is introducing Leisure Plus, a new fare option that allows you to have priority boarding plus and allocated seating plus check in 20 kg of luggage as well as your cabin bag.

This means you don’t have to now try and work out the cost of the extras you want and try and compute it all when you are booking. You simply choose Leisure Plus and job done.

Of course there is a down side and that is the cost. For instance on a flight Ryanair Bristol to Malta one way, the standard fare is £96.81 but choose the new Leisure Plus and the fare goes up by nearly £40 to £134.99; so clearly the new Leisure Plus is not just a little add on but a big step up. But with the checked in luggage and seat selection, without doubt it will be popular for many.

More airline news too from POP, a new low-cost long-haul UK airline but as they put it, with an Indian DNA. POP currently mainly runs flights between London Heathrow and two main destinations, Mumbai and Delhi. Now, thanks to India’s increasing prosperity and industrial development, there is more demand for flights direct to some of the other big cities in India. It is planning to start direct flights out of Stansted to Amritsar and Ahmedabad, two of India’s main “secondary” cities.

Amritsar

This is great for anyone seeking direct flights to these regions, but even better is that the airline has committed to donating 51 per cent of its profits to social projects.

The name came not only because it is eye-catching but also because it stands for People Over Profits…a concept many would love to hear for other companies. When you book, passengers will be able to select beneficiaries through the Charities Aid Foundation, but long term POP wants to set up its own charitable foundation.

Amritsar is one of the cities POP will be flying to direct from Stansted.
More information here.

Finally, BA has been quietly increasing its routes around the world and now more destinations are available than ever before. They start flying direct to Muscat in October for instance, a great holiday destination with almost guaranteed sunshine and still considered a very safe place to visit plus it has a low crime rate. Flights to Berlin are now daily from London City Airport from just £35 each way; and there are also BA flights now from Humberside Airport to Billund and Aalborg in Denmark.
Here's a good site for checking their new routes.

Lisburn is a perky city of pretty shops, enticing restaurants and a distinguished linen heritage. A distinguished history spanning more than 400 years means Lisburn has plenty more stories up its (linen) sleeve for visitors.